I love my Kindle. There, I said it. A recent article on kottke.org pointed out that ebook reader sales are declining and ripped on Amazon for not being design-oriented enough.
I was curious what Kottke meant by that so I read (ok, skimmed) an article he references by Craig Mod. In the article, Craig talks about feeling that ebooks are less beautiful than paper books. He then says that Amazon should do a better job letting a reader know when they have long-neglected books that need reading:
The pile of unread books we have on our bedside tables is often referred to as a graveyard of good intentions. The list of unread books on our Kindles is more of a black hole of fleeting intentions.
Here’s the thing: I love my Kindle. Did I say that already? I can read using one hand. I can read without any room lights on. I can carry lots of books with me everywhere I go without having to, you know, carry lots of books around. Although I agree that the experience can be better I still think the good outweighs the bad.
Not long ago, newspapers used to be the way we consumed our news. Who reads a newspaper now? The convenience of reading internet news on a phone, tablet, or whatever has surpassed the need to feel the newspaper.
I think that the people complaining about ebooks being too sterile are of the older generation that grew up with paper books. They grew to love the feel of a paper book and miss that when using an e-reader.
The sad part is that if sales are going down that means that the younger generations are reading less. That is truly disheartening.